


a day without

by potsticker1234



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula's a big baby without her bending, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Happy Azula (Avatar), Post-Canon, Slice of Life, about 8 years after atla, but she's whipped for Ty Lee, tyzula - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27790234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potsticker1234/pseuds/potsticker1234
Summary: Ty Lee finds Azula a bit too reliant on firebending and challenges her to go without it for a day.(Azula never backs down from a challenge.)
Relationships: Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 84





	a day without

Up before the sun even rose, Azula lit the bedside candle with a flick of her wrist. In the low light, she readied herself for the day making sure to not disturb the sleeping figure on the other side of the bed. With her hair up in its signature topknot, she lit a flame under the teapot to heat up the water. 

Sure, she was the Princess of the Fire Nation and had servants at her disposal to brew tea whenever she liked, but Ty Lee swore no one could make it like she could. When the water had reached just the right point under scalding hot, Azula mixed in the tea leaves, a gift from her Uncle, ‘remember to control the flame so as not to burn it.’ 

Azula regarded her schedule as she let the tea steep. Lots of boring meetings, a diplomatic appearance with the Earth Kingdom’s western embassy, and of course, a dinner date with Zuko and his friends. The Avatar and his motley crew were coming to visit the Firelord and wished to see Azula and Ty Lee as well. Through the years, Azula’s attitude towards them had lightened. She was never one for loud company in the first place, but at least she could get through an evening with them without wanting to set them on fire with her eyes. Indifferent to their company, Azula agreed to the evening plans because she knew Ty Lee was eager to see Suki.

The tea was poured into a gilded cup and placed at Ty Lee’s beside. Azula kissed her sleepy girlfriend on the temple before earning a drowsy “Good morning” from her. She extinguished the lamp and teapot burner and left their room to begin her day as the Firelord’s top advisor.

* * *

Ty Lee sat perched on the window sill of Azula’s office counting the clouds as they passed by. One looked like a platypus bear, another shaped like a star, and was that a turtle duck–she about fell out of the window when a string of ash wafted onto her face. The smoke stung her nose and she leaned her head out the window for a breath of fresh air. When the air was once again clean, Ty Lee noticed that Azula had not seemed to mind the stench and was indeed the cause of it in the first place.

She watched as Azula unwrapped another scroll tied neatly with a thin red cord and lit the end of it letting the fire consume the cord and carry the ashes up into the air. Telling from the pile of ashes gathered on the floor next to her and the bundle of scrolls on the desk, Azula had been burning all of them, only now did one finally hit Ty Lee in the face.

“Azula, you have a waste bin right there,” Ty Lee pointed at the bin with her foot.

Another scroll unraveled in her hands, “Please, Ty Lee, the cords are hardly reusable and are as cheap as they come.”

Ty Lee swiped away an incoming cloud of smoke which still managed to make her sneeze, “That’s not the point, darling,” saying it more as a threat than a term of endearment, “Can’t you just throw things away like the rest of us?”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

Hopping off the window sill, Ty Lee stood in front of her desk, “You couldn’t go an _hour_ without firebending if you tried!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! In fact, I’ll go a whole day without it starting right now.”

Ty Lee smirked, she knew how much her girlfriend hated losing a challenge.

“We’ll start as soon as I’m done with the royal correspondence,” Azula picked up the wax stamping kit and lit the wick with her fingers.

Clearing her throat, Ty Lee declared how ridiculous Azula was, “You’re so reliant on your fire, was there ever a day when you didn’t use it?”

A tired sigh came from Azula’s lips and she pulled out a pair of spark rocks hidden away in the drawer for the servants, “Of course, silly, I spent the first three years of my life without it.”

Though concentrating on lighting the damn candle with such barbaric tools, Azula knew Ty Lee’s eyes were about to roll out of her head.

“If you can keep your word and go the rest of the day without firebending, I will personally make it worth your while,” Ty Lee rounded the desk and tilted the Princess’s head up giving her a kiss that was sure to make her feel hotter than any stupid firebending flame could.

She pulled away in time to see Azula’s face flustered at the loss of contact, “I think I will very much accept your challenge.”

Ty Lee cheered, “Good, because it starts right–” she blew out the wax candle Azula had been so diligently lighting with the spark rocks, “– now!”

She was on her way out of the office when she turned slightly enough to view Azula out of the corner of her eye, “And don’t even think about cheating, I will know if you firebend when I’m not looking.” The door swung shut with a light-hearted ‘ta ta’ and a flash of pink fabric.

Azula picked up the spark rocks and tried again, this was going to be a long day.

* * *

Throughout the day, Ty Lee had decided to make this little game much more complicated than it needed to be. She would extinguish candles and lamps when Azula wasn’t using them in the name of “using natural light.” She would make sure to open up all the windows in their bedroom and office to cool down their internal temperature knowing that Azula was not allowed to heat the space with her presence alone. And when Azula attempted to burrow into Ty Lee’s side for warmth, a blanket was thrown in her lap instead. The dangerous look coming from those golden eyes made her very thankful that firebending was off the table for now. She knew deep down in her heart that Azula would never hurt her, but a flameless Azula made her glares much more empty.

Ty Lee counted down the hours, ignoring cuddling with her girlfriend was hard work.

* * *

Aang and company gathered around the large dining table Zuko had arranged for the evening. Despite hosting the Avatar, two master benders, a Watertribe war hero, the head of the Kyoshi warriors, and his own royal family, Zuko didn’t feel the need to have anything fancy set out for his guests. In fact, the average table and dishware reminded them of their travels on the road eating around campfires and in any home that would house them for the night.

The food, however, was the finest the Fire Nation had to offer. Azula might have laughed at the contrast between the cuisine and the plates they were served on if the look on Zuko’s face was any less gleeful. She knew that he really hated the fancy dinner parties thrown by the upper echelons and that a warm meal with friends and family was more than enough to make him smile. 

Ty Lee seemed also to be enjoying the company, chatting animatedly with Suki and Katara. 

The table listened to another one of Sokka’s wild tales when Ty Lee bumped Azula gently with her elbow, “My tea’s cold.”

Whispering back, “And what do you want me to do about it? I’m as much of a nonbender as the idiotic water boy is.”

She kicked Azula under the table, “Be nice! And look, the teapot isn’t too far away. Be a dear and get me a new cup?” Grey eyes pleaded into golden ones.

In Azula’s mind, there was only one thing worse than losing a challenge, upsetting her girlfriend. Making a dramatic show of it, she loudly scooted her chair back and got up to walk around the table. 

Sokka gave her a bewildered look.

“What? Ty Lee’s tea was cold and I am getting a her a new cup, nothing to see here ‘sea boy.’”

“Isn’t that what all this is for?” he wiggled his fingers in a bad attempt at firebending.

Ty Lee knew this was her chance to strike, “She’s actually trying not to firebend for the whole day!”

From Zuko’s side Mai huffed out air through her nose while others laughed. Sokka, though, completely burst out into a deep laugh that started in his belly, he pointed at the flameless Princess, “No way! Oh, no, this is too good. That’s like asking Appa not to fly for the day.”

Suki put a hand on his shoulder urging him to finish his story, Azula rolled her eyes but was grateful for the distraction nonetheless.

  
Later that evening in the garden, Ty Lee squeezed Azula’s hand as they walked around the cherry and apple trees, “You didn’t set Sokka on fire tonight, I’m proud of you.”

“He’s my favorite of Zuko’s friends, but that’s not really saying much. I don’t know what he sees in those boneheads.”

Ty Lee chuckled as she kissed her cheek, her lips ghosting against her ear, “You’ve been really good today.” It sent shivers up Azula’s spine and she turned to kiss her, but Ty Lee pulled back, “Not so fast, I have one more request.”

In a voice barely above a whisper, Azula regarded her with the softest eyes, “Anything.”

“Anything?” playfulness dripped from her voice.

Azula nodded and leaned in closer only to be met by a finger on her lips pushing her back slightly, “I want you to get me an apple.”

Ty Lee pointed to the highest branch of the tallest tree in the garden. Azula’s eyes scanned her surroundings, thankfully no one else was out there to see them. She was not about to become the spectacle of the night.

On a normal day, she would have retrieved the apples by sending a very precise bolt of fire, meant more to sever than to burn, through the top of the stem causing the apples to fall to the ground. Today, however, was not a normal day and Ty Lee was half expecting her to make one of the royal servants do it, or worse, ask Aang for help.

She had done a lot of things different from her regular routine, but asking for help from the Avatar was not going to be one of those things. Instead, she kicked off her boots by the pond and jumped up to latch onto the lowest hanging branch.

Ty Lee contained her giggles, the last thing she wanted was for Azula to feel embarrassed about herself, but the girl looked so uncomfortable. Her grip on the bark kept slipping and Ty Lee considered that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. When Azula reassured her she could handle it, she decided to back off and just watch from the safety of the ground.

Ty Lee had lost her to the branches of the tree and was only aware of her progress when a head of dark black hair and a golden pin popped through the crown of the tree. Azula snatched two apples from the top and tossed one down to the girl on the ground. She got half way down the tree before throwing caution to the wind and diving out. She landed next to Ty Lee with the gracefulness of a cat-owl. 

Ty Lee clapped for her Princess, “You really had me worried there, I thought you were going to get stuck.”

Azula dusted a leaf off her shoulder, “Have I proven to you that I can function without my bending?”

The apple spun in Ty Lee’s hand, “Oh, Azula, you’ve completed my challenge with flying colors,” typical of her to never treat anything half heartedly, “I think you’ve earned your reward.”

Once again, Azula felt herself leaning into Ty Lee’s space, but the girl threw the apple up in the air and took off in the direction of the palace’s royal wing, “Catch me if you can!”

She was lucky to have caught her at all in the first place, but Azula knew she was not getting away with any more tricks this night.

Dropping her own apple to join the other one on the ground, Azula darted after her girlfriend. She knew that Ty Lee was faster than her, especially with the head start, but she also knew that there were some hidden passageways that only obeyed the whims of a bender. Her feet took her down the red corridors and a familiar warmth graced her hands once again.

**Author's Note:**

> Really this story was more for my own entertainment than to be anything serious. It draws heavily from the episode of Wizards of Waverly Place where Harper tells Alex she uses magic too much after seeing her zip up her hoodie with her wand :))
> 
> Drop a comment with other daily tasks firebenders use their fire for besides combat :)


End file.
